Marilyn Koziatek

This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.

Marilyn Koziatek

Nonpartisan

Elections and appointments

Last election

November 3, 2020

Education

Bachelor's

University of Southern California

Graduate

Johns Hopkins University

Personal

Religion

Christian

Profession

Program director

Contact

Campaign website

Campaign Facebook

Campaign Twitter

Campaign Instagram

Marilyn Koziatek ran for election to the Los Angeles Unified School District to represent District 3 in California. She lost in the general election on November 3, 2020.

Koziatek completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.

Biography

Marilyn Koziatek earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California and a master's degree from Johns Hopkins University. Her professional experience includes working as a programs director at Granada Hills Charter High School. Koziatek has served as chair of the Education Committee with the Valley Industry Commerce Association and as a member of the Education Advisory Committee for the 38th California Assembly.

Elections

2020

See also: Los Angeles Unified School District, California, elections (2020)

General election

General election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 3

Incumbent Scott Mark Schmerelson defeated Marilyn Koziatek in the general election for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 3 on November 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Scott Mark Schmerelson (Nonpartisan)	53.2	143,370
		Marilyn Koziatek (Nonpartisan)	46.8	125,914

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 269,284
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Nonpartisan primary election

Nonpartisan primary for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 3

Incumbent Scott Mark Schmerelson and Marilyn Koziatek defeated Elizabeth Badger and John Sandy Campbell in the primary for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education District 3 on March 3, 2020.

		Candidate	%	Votes
✔		Scott Mark Schmerelson (Nonpartisan)	42.4	56,737
✔		Marilyn Koziatek (Nonpartisan)	31.6	42,301
	Submit photo	Elizabeth Badger (Nonpartisan)	26.0	34,856
		John Sandy Campbell (Nonpartisan) (Write-in)	0.0	48

---

	Incumbents are bolded and underlined. The results have been certified. Source	Total votes: 133,942
= candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey.
If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey.
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team.

Endorsements

To view Koziatek's endorsements in the 2020 election, please click here.

Campaign themes

2020

Ballotpedia survey responses

See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection

Marilyn Koziatek completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Koziatek's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.

Expand all | Collapse all

Who are you? Tell us about yourself.

Marilyn Koziatek is running for the LAUSD school board because the kids and schools in the Valley deserve a champion who speaks with the personal experience of a public school parent and with the knowledge of a school-site education professional. With two sons enrolled in their neighborhood public school, Marilyn would be the only parent on the LAUSD board with children attending an LAUSD school. She works at Granada Hills High School, one of the highest-performing schools in the state of California, where she leads the community outreach department. Her work includes increasing parent engagement, launching the school's first mobile app, creating a work-based internship program to help students gain valuable, real-world job experience. and supporting teachers and students through grant-writing.

Marilyn's family instilled in her a deep belief in serving others and speaking up against injustice. When Marilyn was a child, her family traveled the world on humanitarian missions, building school houses and opening prenatal clinics in small villages in Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, and Nepal. Marilyn's father is a U.S. Army veteran and her mom is a retired caregiver.

Marilyn also chairs the Education Committee at the Valley Industry Commerce Association, sits on the 38th Assembly Education Advisory Committee, volunteers with the Children's Hunger Fund, and is a member of the PTA at her kids' public school. She also volunteers in the kids' ministry at her church.

Please list below 3 key messages of your campaign. What are the main points you want voters to remember about your goals for your time in office?

• A life-time of service: growing up in a family dedicated to serving others.
• A record of success underpinning the success of thousands of students. Has worked at Granada Hills Charter for nearly six years, one of the highest performing public schools in California.
• A sorely needed perspective because Marilyn would be the only parent with a child in Los Angeles Unified Schools serving on the LA Unified Board of Education. Marilyn understands the challenges and frustrations many parents face.

What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?

Marilyn wants to fundamentally change LAUSD to ensure spending is focused on students to meet local needs, not downtown bureaucrats. Her priorities include a transparent budget, smaller class sizes, closing the digital divide to ensure all students can learn if COVID-19 or any other crisis requires distance learning, engaging more parents and making it easier for the community to be involved in schools, restoring art and music, and making sure every child graduates with the skills needed to succeed in a modern economy.

Parent and Community Involvement:
By engaging with the community, schools can serve students better and improve student outcomes. If the community and parents have strong relationships with the school, all stakeholders can work together to elevate our students and ensure the best possible education for all children.

A Transparent Budget that meets Local Needs:

Parents and our community need to see and understand the district's allocation of resources so we can make public education work for all students. Marilyn is focused on ensuring more dollars get to classrooms to restore arts and music programming, small class sizes and to ensure our teachers and staff receive the salary they deserve.

What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?

Now more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us that there is a need for innovative, collaborative, and 21st Century approaches to solving the challenges that face schools, teachers, parents, and, most importantly, students. Marilyn will never settle for mediocrity, a lack of accountability, or a system that leaves too many students behind. She will only accept the best for our kids.

Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.

See also

2020 Elections

What's on the ballot? U.S. President U.S. Congress U.S. Congress special elections State executives State legislatures State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards Election analysis hub

Government

Who represents me? U.S. Congress State executives State legislators State courts Ballot measures Municipal government School boards

Newsletters

Coronavirus Weekly Updates Documenting America's Path to Recovery The Heart of the Primaries The Daily Brew The Weekly Brew The Ballot Bulletin Checks and Balances Economy and Society Hall Pass Number of the Day Robe & Gavel Union Station

External links

• Search Google News for this topic